Guide to Making a Dell System Restore DVD

I have an Inspiron 6400/E1505 (Vista, MediaDirect), and I haven't found any clear resources to make a backup of the recovery partition, in order to be able to make use of that partition to my convenience.

I have read about Norton Ghost, an image-restore software, and MBR (Master Boot Record) savers so that I don't have any problems with the original Dell boot.
So, is it possible to make a Recovery partition Backup to DVD, and a Dell MBR Backup, so that I can delete this partition and restore from this DVD any time I want? Would I just have to use a boot CD to restore the MBR first, and then somehow point the MBR to the DVD drive to restore Dell's Windows?
I would really like to know if it's as easy as it sounds... I'm dying to make a new partition, but I don't want to lose the Recovery system.

 

This is from the last time I looked at it...

The dell recovery is a FAT32 filesystem partiton. It contains small programs that check the existing partition table prior to recovery. They check to make sure that it is in the original drive as well as the partition table matches. It also contains a standard Norton Ghost image so you can probably use Norton Ghost to restore it back. The image may be larger than a dvd however.

There are 2 ways to gain access to the ghost image.

Method 1 (easiest): Use Linux to mount the partition and copy it to writable another media.

Method 2 (a little trickier and may cost money): Use PTEdit to modify the partition table and change the partition type to Fat32. Then you can use Windows to access the partition however way you like. PTEdit is a dos program and is included with Norton Partition Magic (I think -- I have the PowerQuest version before it was bought out by Norton). You can replace PTEdit with another partition editing program if it can change the type directly.

 

Hi Shinji

My system does not include an image file of this recovery Windows, nor the partition is hidden. I've read that was for the older Dell notebooks.
Mine has a clear "D:" partition called RECOVERY, which is 10 GB and has a, let's say, default file structure of a clean Dell Windows install, that meaning, Windows Vista with Dell pre-installed applications and drivers.

So, I'm asking because I think my system cannot be restored the way that Radified website stays.

Hope anyone can help asap. I really need the new partition to start storing my media files.

 

I was going to make a guide for this a few months back. I never did. Its pretty simple though. Except for the last part.
your recovery partitian has a folder called Dell and inside there, a folder called image I believe. and then there's a factory.wim file which is your factory backup of windows before it was turned on. If you restore this file at any time, using the dell restore or your own version, on the next boot, your notebook will act like it did when you took it out the box.
that being said, what do you do to use it from a dvd?
Well just save your whole partition to another computer or jump drive first. But at least get that factory.wim file because thats all you need. Then you will need a bootable imagex cd or usb drive.
Once you boot into imagex using ur cd or usb drive, you can run the command to restore that factory.wim file from where ever you have it, back to your hard drive. Ive done it a few times. I use a 256 meg usb drive and my 40 gig usb drive with the factory.wim file on it. I could easily use the factory.wim on a dvd drive if I wanted. because the imagex acts like a memory OS, u can boot it up then eject the cd and put another media in the drive and it will still be loaded.
read about imagex in wiki
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ImageX
And later I can get you the link to show you how to make a cd, usb, or bootable jump drive. I am at work so I dont have the link.

Once done you can even make another customized save of your cleaned up OS after you delete and modify your vista, and save that as another wim file for restoring later.

The only thing I didnt know how to easily do is, after you restore, they laptop wont boot right away. it will act like its not bootable, and at that point you have to put in a normal vista boot disk and run the restore option which will find the problem and make the restored factory image bootable.

 

Hey Don,

First of all, thanks for trying to help. Now, let's see if I understood right.

• I can burn the .WIM image to a DVD.
• I just need an ImageX boot CD (I already have both Hiren's Boot CD and the Ultimate Boot CD, which have Disk Cloning utilities, but I assume they wouldn't be of use because they don't include ImageX)

So, how do I get/make a bootable ImageX CD? I see the imagex.exe is in the Tools folder on the same partition, along with PCRestore.exe, etc.
And about the laptop not booting right after doing this, I think that's what the MBR save is for, isn't it?

 

I've read every tutorial I could find on the net, and know I'm pretty clear on how to make the bootable ImageX CD, and how to apply the image later.
I just need the know if an MBR saver is the way to keep the original partition order and size, for the time I have to restore everything.
I'd appreciate your help guys.

 

Actually when Microsoft releases the SP1 for Vista shortly, they have included a part that specifically addresses this issue.

All Vista users will able to make a cd-dvd backup of their system as Xp users can presently do.

Hope this helps.

Brad

 

If you want to make an image with your present data/programs on it, Acronis True Image 11 Home is a great program to use. You can make an image, save it where you want and make a recovery disk so you can boot and install that same image as many times as you like. It doesn't care about the size/type partition/media you save it on. It likes Vista much better than Ghost 12 and supports 64bit systems. By restoring the Acronis Image, you also don't have to activate it again- sweet.

I sent you a sweet PMl

ann

 

No, no, guys, you're missing the point.

The point is being able to restore the Dell Windows image (not a new custom) from a DVD, as well as MediaDirect. I need something so that in the future I can restore the whole thing as the factory setup.

I know a disk cloning program would do the work to make a backup of my system and Windows settings as I have'em now, but not as Dell gave it to me.

 

I thought that at one time, but it didn't take me long to figure out I don't want my laptop ever to be like the way it was when Dell gave it to me.

No more bloatware, no more Media Direct.

 

Hi touchthesky, I am in a similar situation. I just recieved my XPS M1530 notebook and I have the partition D: with the Dell factory information on it. I too want to merge this partition with the C: Drive.

I noticed that on partition D:, in the "tools" folder, there is a file named "PCRestore.exe". If you run it, in windows, it askes you if you want to restore your computer back to the state it was in when you bought it. I did not click "next" as I did not want to restore the computer right now, but if you can run the program through windows then all you need to do is to bun everything on D: drive to a DVD, as it is around 4.36 GB, and then when you need to restore your computer you just pop the DVD in and restore it through windows. This way you do not need to worry about making the DVD bootable. I have not done it and I do not know whether it will work. Just wanted to add it here and hear what you and others have to say about it.

 

amen Hiker

and touchthesky- I know you have some reason for wanting to always be able to go back and restore the lap to factory condition, but I sort of like to have all my main programs installed, windows updated and then make an image I can restore at anytime.......

and about the boot >> yes, that's what the mbr save is for, as the boot record will probably be corrupt after you do your restore- that's fairly common. But all you have to do is boot w/ a vista install disk, click install >> then instead of continuing the install >> click on repair at the bottom of the screen >> then you have several repair options, but select startup >> it will seach vista for startup problems and correct them if it can >> it shows a log of the repairs at the bottom of that page >> and shows that it repaired the boot record if it was damanged.

annie

 

@razaali: I don't know about this option you gave. Actually I think the restore application wouldn't work running it through Windows. I anyways opted for the ImageX thing, I already backed the image up and made an imagex boot cd.

@annie: Yes, you're right. I don't mind having the custom image though, as the only case I'd be using this image file would be when selling my laptop in the future. And yes, I already saw the Repair option in the Vista DVD and made use of it (don't ask why, lol) so i don't need the MBR utility anymore.

To summ everything up, in my case all I seem to need is:
- Dell .IMG file from D: into any physical backup (in my case, DVD, could be an external drive too, doesn't matter).
- ImageX Boot CD made from Windows AIK.
- MediaDirect 3 CD to format your hard drive and "restore" the MD partition.
- Boot from the ImageX CD you made and restore with the .img file.
- Vista DVD in case you need to repair your system.

 

i tried acronis and it deleted the partition i wanted to image after it imaged it. then for some reason, after it restored the image, windows wouldn't boot properly like before.

 

I'm not sure if this is the right thread for this ...
I have made images of Dell factory install HDDs - both pre-first boot, and after first boot, using Ghost 11.1.
I can transfer these images to other drives and get them to boot no problem. My problem is when I then do a Dell Factory Restore from the F8 startup option. The restore completes, but the PC doesn't boot afterwards. Is this where I need the Vista DVD to repair the MBR?


EDIT: I tried the repair option off the Vista DVD which got the drive booting again. The only problem is that as soon as I do a Dell Factory Restore, the drive is unbootable again - until I repair again using the DVD.

How is it that the factory image laid down by the Dell restore utility leaves the drive unbootable? Originally I thought it was to do with the diskID, but I'm using the exact drive that the image originally came from.

 

I want to do the same thing as the originator of this topic. I have an Inspiron 1520 with the ImageX image on Drive D:\.

Did anyone manage to find a way to get the image to fully restore the MBR, so a Vista DVD is not needed to fix things after the restore?

 

Uncle dell says:

(...)
The Dell OS Recovery Utility allows the creation of ONE operating system CD. This means that you can make one Windows® CD for backup purposes.
(...)

more here

 

That only works for Dells that are like 5 years old.

Greg

 

How to make an Imagex Boot CD? can anyone tell me?

 

It is bit tricky to reset to factory default a Dell Inspiron 6400, Ctrl+F11 or F10 do not work as hot keys, so If you do not have restore disks you can follow the instrustions using recovery partition

here how I twist it

1. Make bootable CD which contains Norton Ghost or other disk image software
2. boot your system using bootable CD with Norton Ghost software, u can use Hiren's CD ISO image. if u dont know about hiren just google it.

2. Once you boot up , open Norton Ghost click LOCAL-> PARTITION->FROM IMAGE

3. now "look in" for "[DellRestore]FAT drive" and select this drive (this is recovery partition)

4. now go to "IMG" folder and select FI.GHO file

5. Click Open and there you go... process started

al good

Best Luck
Regards

 

I have been searching the net for a solution for the same thing without any luck. I still have the Dell Factory.wim file on my D: partition but when i try to do a fresh install from it the computer cant see it.

Dont know if anyone is still following this thread, but if any more info is needed {as to where i think i have messed up} just make a post and i will explain more.

 

I have sucessfully built a custom system restore partition similar to dells, but not exactly. And this is with the windows 7 installation, which became a little more tricky because of the extra partition that windows 7 makes. i've put a basic guide here http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=373756

it took me a few days to work out all the bugs, but i'm very pleased with the results.

I am going to work on building a DVD to supplement the system, just in cast the system restore partition gets damaged, and I think it should be pretty simple to work out. I'm just going to use the win98 bootable cd, remove the config.sys menu, and alter the autoexec.bat, to ask for confirmation, and then proceed with restore, or restart, depending on the user input. I'll post in the other thread when I successfully accomplish this task.

 

dex3985

I seem to have messed up somewhere, i need to reset my computer to its original state, i still have the partition with the recovery image on. Can you just burn the Factory.wim file to DVD and boot from that? dont want to try it yet just in case i naff it up some more.

 

I think the easiest way, would be to burn the image files to a dvd, and set them aside. Then obtain a bootable ghost 10 or 11 cd/dvd, and boot from it. just restore the image on the dvd that you burned. it should restore it exactly the way it was when it shipped, and rebuild all the mediadirect, and system restore partitions in the process. I WOULD NOT change the restore partition at all. the system restore doesn't "replace" that partition, because it can't over write a partition in use by the system, unless it can get the entire image in the RAM, and that file is too large. it should rebuild the MBR, and the rest of the drive perfectly fine though, and restore your ctrl+f11 function as well.

 

as a LAST resort...you can try deleting all the partitions except the restore partition, I believe that should force the computer to boot from the system restore partition, as if you started the process the right way, and should rebuild everything as well...again..i'd make that a LAST resort...without actually testing it, I can't guarantee it would work.

 

How to burn the Wim file to iso image . Thats the question..

 

you wouldn't want it to be an iso..you would want it to be exactly as it is.